LETTERS, April 15: Farm-nuisance law is fair, needed

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Apr 15, 2017 at 5:00 AM

Farm-nuisance law needed

EDITOR: House Bill 467 is not at all what your April 12 editorial described. It is an appropriate response by lawmakers to clarify an area of law that a federal judge said is “not clear.” The question: What type of damages should be available to plaintiffs if they win a nuisance lawsuit against an agricultural or forestry operation?

The answer, in this bill, is that a plaintiff can receive up to the fair market value of their property. It narrowly applies to nuisance lawsuits – not claims of negligence, personal injury, harm to health, etc., and it does not change or limit anyone’s ability to bring a lawsuit of any kind.

When a nuisance exists, most people want to eliminate the underlying problem. That’s not the situation facing North Carolina farmers. In the lawsuits often associated with this bill, the plaintiffs are not asking for any changes on the farms to reduce odor or minimize other impacts. They just want money -- and lots of it.

This bill is important to all farmers and passed the state House with bipartisan support.

House Bill 467 has the strong support of the N.C. Farm Bureau, N.C. Chamber, N.C. Poultry Federation, N.C. Farm Families and others who recognize that our farmers need protection from predatory lawyers looking to line their own pockets.

Andy Curliss, Raleigh

Editor’s note: The writer is CEO of the N.C. Pork Council.

2 choices on health care

EDITOR: Our health care system costs 50-100 percent more per capita than in other developed nations. Overall, however, our system is poor, with shorter life expectancy, higher infant mortality, and worse overall health than in Sweden, Switzerland, U.K., Canada and Australia. Obamacare didn’t fix this and Ryancare wouldn’t have either.

Prior to Obamacare, health care was a commodity like iPhones and vacation traveling that you can afford or cannot. After Obamacare, it became a basic necessity like education and fire protection that government ensures that everyone gets. Ryancare would have put it back into the can or cannot afford category. There doesn’t seem to be a consensus in our country as to which category we should be in. The other developed nations have chosen basic necessity.

Doctors, hospitals, insurance companies, drug companies and lawyers were all getting rich before Obamacare and still are. Ryancare wouldn’t have changed this. These people are financing the campaigns of all our politicians in both parties.

Our current health care system is the most expensive and inefficient in the civilized world. This isn’t going to change in the foreseeable future.

Ralph Perkins, Leland

Senators rise above politics

EDITOR: As an attorney and a citizen, I am thankful for the resolve and dedication U.S. Sens. Richard Burr and Thom Tillis showed with their votes to confirm Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. In an intensely partisan atmosphere, they simply did the right thing and voted for an unquestionably qualified nominee.

In 2006, Judge Gorsuch was appointed to the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals by a unanimous vote of the Senate – including yes votes from 12 Democratic senators who voted against him for Supreme Court. The difference? Politics.

Sens. Burr and Sen. Tillis deserve our thanks for rising above all that and helping put a seasoned champion of the U.S. Constitution on the bench. It’s not a victory for a political party; it’s a victory for our nation.

Thom Goolsby, Wilmington

Editor’s note: The writer is a former state senator.

A win-win proposal

EDITOR: I was chairman of the Raleigh Planning Commission and later served as chairman of the City Council's Comprehensive Planning Committee. We now live in Wilmington much of the time. The possibility of the Echo Farms golf course being acquired for a city park is a wonderful compromise that is fair to the Echo Farms residents who relied on the golf course/open space amenity when purchasing their homes. At the same time it gives the golf course owners a reasonable opportunity to successfully sell the golf course.

I hope the Wilmington City Council takes advantage of this opportunity so that both sides are winners, along with every other Wilmington resident.

Neal Hunt, Wilmington

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